Par boiling the potatoes on Christmas Eve

[Chamomileteaplease]

Someone mentioned that you could do this to save time and save work on Christmas Day.

But they missed out the details.

Do you just leave them out all night in the kitchen?

Covered? Not covered?

Do you have to put them in the fridge?

Please can someone fill in the gaps?

You could either freeze them, they can go straight into hot fat the next day from frozen, or put them in a bowl with water (so they don't go brown) and pop in fridge (or not, depends how cold it is overnight!)

Yep! Par-boil then leave them in the pan, covered with water, with a lid on. Put a squeeze of lemon juice in the water to stop them going brown

I par boil, lay out to cool on a plate(s) then when completely cool cover with cling film
If there’s room in the fridge put them there overnight
If not they will be fine left out overnight in as cool a place as you can find
Then roast as normal the next day

I also make the mash the day before - mash with butter cool and cover. Heat in the microwave the next day. But I do keep it in the fridge overnight

Good luck

I don't put them in the fridge - no room! They're going to be cooked at a high temp. so no food poisoning risk there.

Parboil and half roasted here then into a foil trays ready for popping in the oven to crisp up the next day. Stored in the fridge overnight.

The ideal option, as advised by people with messages earlier is freezing.

Jamie Oliver did this on a programme i was watching the other day...par-boiled the day before, but not sure what he did with them after that!

I used to do this. Parboil - drain water - steam off the excess water and fluff up. Either put in the fridge or leave on the back doorstep (where most of my prepared veg sit overnight). The drier the spud is the better the crispiness. So don't cover until they have cooled

Brilliant! Thank you everyone. I am definitely going to do this. It's the only faffy bit I find a pain on Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas all

I wouldn’t recommend leaving cooked potatoes covered with water. One of the key things with roast potatoes is to let them dry out after parboiling which gives them a nice fluffy inside once roasted.

Par boiling doesn’t take long though does it? Not sure how much time you’d save. Peel and cover with water yes but not sure it’s worth par boiling.

I've given up par boiling and my roasties are legendary, if I do say so myself

Absolutely don't leave them in water after they've been boiled. Drain them, let them steam dry a bit, you could even give them a shake in the pan to fluff them up so you get nice crispy bits. I'd put them in the fridge once they've cooled.

You can peel them and cover them in water so they don't go brown, but you only need to do that while they're raw.

I'd put a tray with fat in it in the oven on Xmas day, get the fat nice and hot, then tip the cooked dry fluffy spuds in carefully, give them a toss with a fish slice or similar, then straight in the oven.

You can parboil them now. Then open freeze them and put into a bag once frozen. Then cook directly from frozen adding on about 10 minutes. They're crispier than normal because of the dry air in the freezer, so that's even better!

I rely on the heat of the par-boiling to help with the cooking once they are in the oven but that's just me.

There is a Mary Berry recipe I used one Christmas where you actually part cook the roasts the day before, then they only need 20 minutes in the oven on xmas day.

Parboil, steam to dry off, fluff then roll them in olive oil/ butter in the tray I'm going to roast them in. Sprinkle with seasoning fresh thyme sage whatever, cover with foil to protect from nosy cats and leave out in cool utility room overnight.

Par boil, take half out and let the rest fully cook. Mash those then put in the fridge in a dish and microwave the next day.

The removed par boils you put in a bowl with semolina, rosemary, seasoning and garlic while they are still hot and steaming so the semolina and seasoning sticks. Jiggle a tiny bit so everything is covered and the edges roughed.
When fully cold put in a ziplock bag. Freeze or fridge, doesn’t really matter.

Tip directly into hot hot hot fat (of choice) the next day. Baste and roast.

Also, if you have ham, parboil them in the ham water. They soak up the fat and salt and make lovely caramelised roasties.